Last month, Allison Patrick got the keys from her old man to drive the family vehicle.

It wasn't a minivan or even a four-by-four.

No, it was Samson, a monster truck that is 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide, sits atop 66-inch-tall tires and weighs roughly 10,000 pounds. You'd better believe Patrick's dad, Dan, who has driven the behemoth vehicle for a quarter of a century, didn't just toss the keys and say, "Be careful."

"My first show was in Milwaukee, and I was incredibly nervous," said Patrick, 28, calling from her home in Circleville, just south of Columbus. "This is our family truck that we had since I was 3 years old, so I'm totally used to how it sounds but driving it, it's a totally different experience."

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Despite her nerves, Patrick's debut was viewed as a success, or at least a good start. First of all she didn't roll the truck, which is something that did happen last year when she first started training to take over the family business. When it became apparent she was serious about following in her dad's footsteps, he built her a practice track that allowed her to become familiar with the nuances of driving Samson with her left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas at all times.

"I had to get used to rear steering," said Patrick, who is not related to NASCAR driver Danica Patrick. "It's still the hardest part for me, trying to put everything together. And on my third time driving in practice, I rolled end over end. I knew that was coming."

Something else she feared was coming was her dad putting the brakes on the experiment after the accident. But that didn't happen. Instead, Patrick said her dad was cool and calm, and he stressed that now that she had survived her first crash, she knew what not to do again.

So it's just small steps this season, which brings Patrick to Northeast Ohio for Monster Jam Feb. 15 through 17 at Quicken Loans Arena. Last year she attended the event as a onlooker, but this year she's driving alongside veterans such as Bari Musawwir and Joe Sylvester.

Considering her legacy and commitment, Patrick said hazing from her peers has been minimal. Instead, they've been supportive to one of a handful of women participating in an overwhelmingly male-dominated sport. Perhaps they realize the image of a female driver can only help spread monster truck to the masses.

"It's mainly family-oriented," Patrick said. "There are a lot of kids, but the more women who are involved in driving seems to increase the attention of the little girls. So I think it really helps."

Providing help is something Patrick knows plenty about with a full-time career as a ICU nurse.

"People don't believe that I'm a monster truck driver so I don't bring it up a lot," Patrick said. "People will say, 'Well after you hurt yourself you'll know how to fix yourself,' which is true. It's definitely a double life I'm living, but I wouldn't change it for anything."